New Beer Weekend #58

@Rub_This_BBQ sent me two exciting lagers from the NE aside from the homebrew sour that I won last weekend. I am patiently waiting for my wife to be available to try the sour with me. In the meantime, I get to try Jack's Abby for the first time: Hometown Rising, a double hoppy lager clocking in at 8% abv. The label says it is hopped with strata, sabro, and citra.

16oz can served in an angular wineglass. No date on the can, but I trust that it is fresh.

Pours a fairly clear amber-gold with a fairly large head that collapses to a thin skin that craws right up the sides of the glass. Smell is hop resin, grass, a little lemon pith, if I work at it I can get a little bit of a lager yeast aroma (but this is probably self-delusion).

Taste is moderate citrus, lots of ripe tropical flavors, makes me think of papaya or passionfruit or very ripe mango. I get a moderate earthy bitterness fairly late.

Mouthfeel is surprisingly light and refreshing. Overall, this is a really nice beer.

Chances are pretty slim I'll see Jack's Abby on the shelves out here in Washington. Boo.

 

Good Sunday afternoon, New Beer Samplers and commentators. I'm continuing to review new releases from this weekend's celebration of Four City Brewing's second anniversary. First up is a triple IPA brewed in collaboration with Other Half, More Medison than Hedison. It's brewed with OH's proprietary Galaxy hops, along with Nelson Sauvin, Citra Cryo, and Mosaic Cryo. As you would expect, it's outstanding. Lots of ripe tropical fruit balanced by citrus, white wine, and a lot of hoppy bitterness. I'm thinking it will be even better in another week.

Reviewed two days after release and less than a week after canning. Poured into a snulip glass. It pours a turbid, dirty tangerine color with a full finger of foamy, milk white head and thick, sticky lacing. A very attractive pour. The nose is big and fruity with lemon, grapefruit, pineapple, ripe melon, and lots of pinot gris. The taste absolutely pops with a lot of ripe melon and passion fruit, along with lemon, lime, and grapefruit. White wine grape is also present but it's initially in the background and becomes more evident as the ale warms in the glass. The first few sips were very bitter but it settled out quickly. The brewers used Other Half's proprietary Galaxy hops and I'm assuming it accounts for the bitterness. There is a slight astringency at the finish. The mouth feel is luxuriously thick and creamy with appropriate carbonation and it drinks surprisingly easily for 9.4% ABV. Overall, this is super, big, fruity, bitter TIPA. It reminds me of Other Half's collaboration with District 96, "All Snake Everything."

4.49/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

I'll be back shortly with a Stout from Four City and Twin Elephant. Cheers!

 

Great review! I hope you join us regularly. This is a really fun thread with good comraderie. The NBS BIF is also a blast!

 

Moving on to Odd Muse Fiber Optics.
4.02/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

16 oz can poured into a teku

A- A hazy golden orange with a two finger white head.

S- Citrus, melons, hints of stone fruits, earthy, touch of alcohol.

T- Citrus, oats, melons, touch of stone fruits, slightly earthy.

M- Smooth, medium body.

O- A solid NEIPA, easy to drink, a touch on the sweeter side.

Cheers!

 

Man, I just KNEW they skipped the 6-row barley malt!!!

PS: what is 6-row barley malt?



I’m guessing it’s not 3 times the malted barley of 2-row barley malt, which I remember referenced in some Sam Adams beers (maybe Sam Light?) years ago.

 

2 row is from Europe, where they have small fields of 2 rows of barley.

6 row is from America, where the fields are larger, so they plant 6 rows.

 

two row barley


6 row barley

It refers to the number of barley kernels around the head of the grain.

 

Abita 35th Anniversary Pilsner, 5.0% ABV; 3.75 overall

Pours an effervescent gold with a thumb+ of pearl colored head. Average head retention & lacing

S: Bready, some lemon notes

T: Dry, bready, grassy notes with lemon up front. Sweet breadyness melds with grassyness, soapy & lemony hops as this warms. Finishes dry, grassy with lemon & lime notes

MF: Medium body, soft carbonation, pretty good balance

Solid effort, pretty drinkable

 

Greetings All from the Great Northwest where we are off the heat of the summer, but still warm with temps in the mid 80s.

Today we have Jai Alai IPA from Cigar City Brewing all the way from Florida.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/17981/46363/

It's a hazy fruity citrus tasting beer.

Looks like football season and Oktoberfests are just around the corner.

Until next time,

 

Back with my 2nd HF of the day (after a "pallet cleanser" of Goose Island IPA). This one really hit the spot.

4.34/5 rDev +2.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Poured from a 16oz can stamped "canned 07/27/21, drink by 08/24/21", (oh well), to a Nonic at fridge temp.
Pours light orange haze with a 1/2" head with multi-sized bubbles. The head fade in a minute or so but lace nicely.
The citrus is strong with this one. Orange pith, lemonade all with a back ground of subtle must.
The citrus really hits in the taste. Its almost like the bitterness comes from citrus rind rather than hops, but its pleasant.
Mouthfeel is rather light. I think it would be a detriment to the "lemonade effect" if it were creamier.
Another excellent beer from HF.

 

Ive been out of the loop lately and would like to know when the next BIF is happening. Please let me know the info. Cheers!

 

Next up is an Imperial Stout collaboration between Four City and Twin Elephant Brewing: Only Built 4 Brewin' Drinx. I have to say that my initial reaction was disappointment. The head fizzled out before I could snap a photo. That's okay if it's a BA, high ABV Stout but this is neither (well, it is 10%). But I've calmed down and can report that it's a nicely-brewed Stout with lots of cocoa and peanut butter and just a tiny hint of dark fruit. I was hoping for a little more but this is still a fine Stout.

Canned on 8/23/2021. Poured into a snulip glass at 64°. It pours ink black. The nose provides some redemption: it's heavy on peanut butter, along with cocoa and freshly-brewed coffee. The taste follows the nose; there is peanut butter up front, along with graham cracker, cocoa, coffee, and a touch of earthy char. As it breathes there is the slightest hint of black cherry. There is modest bitterness at the finish. The mouth feel is moderately chewy with lite carbonation. At 10% ABV it should be sipped slowly. Overall, this collaboration is fine but not as good as the best stouts produced by either brewer.

3.99/5 rDev 0%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

I posted this on the WBAYDN thread yesterday. Four City did something I think is really clever for its anniversary: it created a "Boom Box" with two mixed four packs of the four anniversary releases. This was great since I would not have bought packs of all four but I was able to get two cans of each. I also bought a "full" pack of More Medison than Hedison so I think I did well. For those in the NYC/North Jersey area, Four City is worth a visit. It has a great, urban vibe. The next time I go I'll take the train. It's a 6 minute walk from my house to the local station and about a minute walk from the Orange station to the brewery. A drunkard's dream if I ever did see one.

 

Here is the sign up thread:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/nbs-bif-14-sign-up-thread.661088/

 

Alaskan Brewing Co.'s Midnight Haze Cascadian Ale, 6.0% ; 3.77 overall

Pours chestnut/brown with 2 fingers of tan head. Stellar head retention & lacing

S: Roastyness in spades

T: Pine, roastyness, a little caramel, plus dryness up front. Roastyness & dryness dominate as this warms, plenty of pine as well. Finishes roasty, dry with a little nuttyness & pine

MF: Medium body, fairly restrained carbonation that builds once warmer

Drinkable enough, but nothing really stands out about this one. This a style that I've had a few i really enjoyed, but this is just middle of the pack

 

Just read a book review about that woman in the Economist last night. Pretty interesting story.

 

@JayORear turned me on to Slice too. And it's from my state! Great stuff. And couldn't agree with you more. He be a stellar BA.
Maybe he's calibrating his sights for NBS BIF #14...

 

Last NBW, @Rub_This_BBQ offered up a bottle of his first "intentionally sour" homebrew, which I earned, clearly through deep personal virtue.

I'm impressed by his willingness to put himself out there by requesting a review in this thread, and I'm nervous that my positive feelings about his generosity will make it difficult for me to be honest if I don't like it. Based on my wife's reaction (who isn't bothering with all this preamble), that shouldn't be a big problem.

Cherry Mixed Ferm homebrew by @Rub_This_BBQ

So here it goes...22oz bottle that I retrieved from the mail on Friday, and has been resting in the fridge since then. Poured into an angular wine glass, leaving ~3/4" in the bottle as a precaution against sediment.

Pours a deep almost purple red with very little carbonation, moderately to lightly cloudy. Smell is gorgeous cherry tartness with a little bit of a wild woody twist.

Taste is very tart, lots of cherry juice, almost an unripe cherry characteristic. Slight fruit skin or grape must bitterness.

Mouthfeel is smooth, clean, could use a little more carbonation (but understand that's not terribly abnormal for the style). Overall...considering it's the only intentionally sour homebrew I've ever had, it's the best one; I've had plenty of professional wild/sour/mixed fermentation beers that I didn't think came out as well. It screams cherry in a way I haven't experienced very often.

Thank you so much, @Rub_This_BBQ! I'm really appreciative of your generosity.

Wife says: I really like the flavor of it. I wish it had a little bit more carbonation. I think it's really good -- better than a lot of professional beers of the style. She gives it a 4.5/5, and she's no newbie -- sours are her preference, Cantillon is her favorite brewery, and we've visited them three times. She says it's the best homebrew I've ever had.